A Change Is Gonna Come
by lizzy559
Summary: Hal rescues Karen and she is with child.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Change is Gonna Come

Hal goes after Karen and gets her back alive.

Hal carries Karen in to the makeshift operating room and onto the bed that his brother had had this exact same procedure done only weeks before.

"Hal, I think you should wait outside," said his father.

"No, I'm not leaving her! " Hal said with determination.

Reading something in his son's eyes he had never seen before , Tom relented. "Ok, lets gets get the supplies we need. Anne!" Tom called for his friend and doctor who had already prepared the room for the procedure and was now carrying a blowtorch with Lourdes in tow to monitor Karen's vitals.

"Ok, Hal I need you to pull on the harness beginning with the top. As I sever each spike keep pulling up and away until the entire harness is removed, you got it?" Anne asked with a no nonsense voice only a doctor can possess.

"Yeah, I got it, " he replied looking half scared kid and half warlord man. The procedure began and the harness was removed and Hal looked at Anne with pleading eyes, "Is she ok?"

With a quick glance to Lourdes to check vitals, then a quick look to Tom communicating in a nonverbal way that only they understood Tom put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Yeah, she's ok, son." At that moment Hal turned to his father and hugged him close. Tom rubbed his son's back in a soothing motion and murmured words of encouragement, "You did great. Everything is going to be ok. She's safe now."

Hal turned to Karen lying on the bed with the exposed wound on her bare back. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. "It's ok, babe. Everything is going to be ok." He sat in the chair that Tom had dragged over for him to sit in and sat by her bedside. Anne came to treat the wound on the girl's back and listen to her heart as she was rolled on to her side. She paused in the middle of the examination and put her stethoscope below her on her stomach. She didn't say anything when Hal looked at her inquisitively.

"Ill be right back," she told Hal and walked in to the hallway where Tom was sitting on the floor

staring at the lockers with a blank stare on his face.

"Hey," he said simply while smiling at her with his eyes. She sat down next to him shoulder to shoulder and took in the moment realizing how tired she was. Sensing something was bothering her, "You ok?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine, but I'm pretty sure we are going to have a different situation concerning Karen, "automatically Tom turned towards her with worry in his eyes. "I'm going to have to do more tests to make sure, but I'm pretty sure Karen is pregnant."

Fear hit Tom in the gut. Had Karen been raped by one of these aliens and was she now carrying some kind of unearthly spawn? It made Tom sick to even think about such a thing. He looked at Anne with sad and pleading eyes, "She's only seventeen, Annie."

"I know."

"How am I going to tell my son?"

"We don't know for sure, but we will do it together if it comes to that."

Tom silently nodded and put his arm around her. They sat there together in companionable silence just finding comfort in being close.

Hours later

"hmmm", Karen mumbled coming out of her drug induced slumber.

Abruptly Hal woke up from dosing off with his head lying on her bedside while holding her hand. "Hey, Karen," he said in a soft voice with a smile across his lips.

"Hal…? Is that you?"

"Yes it's me, Babe. You're safe. How ya feeling?"

"Like I've had an alien harness on my back for the last few weeks," she said with a tired sarcastic voice, and he knew she was back. She wasn't acting like a different person like his brother sometimes did.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm so tired."

"Just sleep. Sleep as long as you want."

She looked at him with pleading eyes, "Don't leave me, ok?"

"Never, I'm going to be right here."

"I have to tell you something, Hal. It's really important.."

"We will talk about whatever you want when you wake up again, I promise. Just go back to sleep. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

His voice was calming to her and she drifted off again. Hal laid his head down beside her and did the same.

Hal woke up with his head on the side of Karen's mattress, but she wasn't there. After a moment of temporary frantic searching of the room with his eyes he saw her sitting across the room eating some porridge with a loose fitting gown on her.

"Jesus, you scared me, why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked so cute with the drool hanging out of your mouth; I couldn't bear to wake you." Self-consciously Hal brought his hand to the corner of his mouth and wiped away the congregating saliva there.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty sore and a little nauseous."

"Nauseous? Do you want me to get Anne?"

"No, I don't she has anything that can help me."

Hal looked at her with a befuddled look on his face.

"I have something to tell you. I was going to tell you right before I was taken."

"Tell me what?"

"I'm pregnant." She said it so simply that Hal thought he must have not heard her correctly.

"Your what?"

"Pregnant. You know bun in the oven, visit from the stork, knocked up, pregnant."

"I know what pregnant means, but …..shit..".

"I know, I couldn't believe it either. I mean I could believe it, its not like it's an immaculate conception or anything, but after I was taken I thought for sure that the skitters would know and they would try to do something horrible. But apparently they had no idea…" Hal was looking pretty pale and he wasn't talking. "Hal, are you ok?"

"Me? You were kidnapped by alien creatures for a month while pregnant and you want to know if I'm ok?"

"Are you mad about the baby?"

"The baby? No, I never thought I would be a teenage parent, but we are not in the same circumstances we were in a year ago," Hal couldn't believe she was carrying his child. He was going to be a father and in that instant he knew exactly what his dad had been talking about. He wanted so much more for his child then he had ever wanted for himself. He looked at Karen with a love in eyes that was fully realized in that moment. "I love you," He cupped his hands around her face and kissed her. He kissed her because he loved her, because she was his best friend, and he kissed her for being the mother of his child. He kept murmuring, "I love you, I love you," into her lips as he kissed her. "I want to have a family with you. I don't ever want to be away from you." She had tears in her eyes. She had no one left and all of a sudden she was being given this new family.

"I love you too, Hal."

Hall went down on his knees in front of her and pressed his forehead to her belly. "I love both of you, so much," he whispered. He looked up," so you are two months along, right?"

"Right," she said with a knowing smile remembering that afternoon.

Two months ago:

As his dad closed the door Hal turned to Karen. "So we have our own room, with a bed and we are not sleeping on the floor."

"I don't know what do with myself," she said myscheviously as she leaned in to kiss him. She knew he wanted to go after his brother and she wanted to comfort him. She lay down on the bed and pulled in him on top of her. It felt so good with him solid above her and the mattress soft below her. They made out and eventually began removing clothing. Hal pulled off his shirt and she stared at his raised form. The last months he had put on the muscles of a man. He was tall and lean and he put his hands in her hair when he kissed her with an intensity she loved. She kissed him back with the same emotions. Their breathing was heavy as he pulled her tank top over her head and he fell back on top of her. "I want you," she said breathlessly while looking into his eyes.

He had never pressured her, never gone any further than what she was comfortable with. It made her love him even more because even after all that had happened he was still protective of her virtue. He wanted it to be her decision so she would never regret it. A serious look was brought to his face, "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I need you."

He looked in to her eyes an nodded almost unperceptively before he began kissing her again. The tone of their physical exchange has turned to hunger and passion, but he was still so gentle with her she almost cried. They had managed to get under the covers and they were both naked. He raised himself above her, "Are you sure Karen? We can stop if you want to," he was so considerate and sweet.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, "I'm sure." He leaned down and kissed her.

They lay there together in an afterglow that only making love could generate. They put their clothes back on in case someone else decided that it would be a good time come in the through the door. When they lay back down on the bed Hal was behind her and he held her tightly as they went to sleep and rested for their nightly duty.

Coming back to the present and looking at her with silent communication Hal got up. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to get my dad. He is probably going to freak, but he needs to know," Hal was interrupted by Tom and Anne entering the room looking like a united front standing side by side.

"Hal, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tom asked with a look in his eyes Hal had never seen before.

"Actually I was coming to ask you the exact same thing," Hal said with confusion on his face.

Anne approached Karen and sat beside her in a friendly almost maternal motion. "I'm going to examine Karen again, why don't you wait outside with your dad, Hal?" Tom still looking like he had been punched in the stomach took his son by the elbow and ushered hi m into the hall.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Anne.

"You know, the usual deharnessed symptoms I guess," said Karen with a load of sarcasm in her voice.

"Karen, do you want to talk about what happened while you were gone? I'm your doctor and you can tell me anything and it will stay totally confidential."

"You mean like tell you I'm pregnant?" the younger girl responded with a dry wit of someone who was trying to break the tension, but not of someone who had experienced a violent experience like a rape.

"Are you pregnant?" asked Anne in that unbiased tone that held no judgment, but yet she was still cautious that her original suspicion was accurate.

A smile spread across Karen's face, "Yes I am. I am carrying Hal's post-apocalyptic spawn, if you can believe it."

A smile spread across the older woman's face and a heavy sigh of relief was expelled from her lungs. "The baby is Hal's?" a relieved giggle almost escaped the good doctor's lips.

"Who else's would it.." and then Karen understood. "Oh, God, no! I don't know how to explain it, but I was a week late before the skitters took me. I was going to tell Hal that night. I know we were stupid, but if there were ever a cease the day kind of moment…" she drifted off.

"Well, you should have been more careful, but this is so much better than what I had originally thought. Let me examine you, Ok?"

"Hal I think something horrible may have happened to Karen."

"Yeah, I can't believe I got her back."

"No I mean something other than being harnessed," Tom looked his son in the eye." She might have been… assaulted," Tom chose to use the euphemism because he couldn't even bare to voice the thought.

"Why would you say something like that?"

"She's pregnant, Hal," it was all Tom could do not to break down. He had to be strong for his son. His anguished face took on a new look of befuddlement when he noticed Hal was smiling. "Hal?"

"Don't get mad ok? The baby is mine."

Tom looked at his son with a shocked expression. "What do you mean the baby is yours?"

"Dad, you have three kids, do I really have to explain the birds and the bees?" Seeing that Tom was in no mood for humor, "She told me this morning. She was going to tell me the day she was taken." Looking at his father, "Dad, she wasn't abused, not like that."

Tom felt his knees give out and slumped down the wall he had been leaning against. After the first wave of relief he felt another equally strong wave of fury. His voice bellowed down the hallway, "Have I taught you nothing?"

Clinic

The entire second Mass must of heard Tom since he used that booming voice he only reserved for times when he felt necessary to use it.

The corners of Anne's mouth curved upwards while examining Karen," I guess Hall just told, Tom."

"Yeah, I guess so…Anne, is everything alright?"

Anne looked at the teenager, no something was definitely very wrong…."Let's get Hal in here and we can talk,"she had a reserved, but pleasant smile on her face as she turned to go into the hall. Something was wrong, pregnancy was well into the second trimester, not the first. Apparently the harness did have an affect on her, and the baby….


	2. Chapter 2

Hope you have enjoyed the story so far. I have not written much because I have always enjoyed reading other peoples' work (the West Wing story on here I originally wrote in 2004!), but like many others I am wanting contribute to this fanfic community. I haven't totally decided on how this story is going to turn out, but stay with me!

Anne went out into the hall through the double doors of the clinic to find Hal and Tom in hushed conversation standing in front of the lockers. Hal looked different. Last night he had the trademark reactions of a teenager becoming a man, but now there wasn't a trace of that kid. He seemed to have grown taller and his chin had a light stubble that made the boyishness in his face vanish. He looked so much like his Father.

Both men turned to her. "Can I see her?" Hal asked.

"Yeah, go on in. I'll be there in a minute." As Hal went in to the room she walked to Tom. "So I'm assuming you know?" She had a look of obvious sarcasm.

Tom rubbed a hand through his hair and lightly scratched his bearded cheek. He had always been clean shaven before, but not now. Even after they had gotten supplies and he could shave every day if he had wanted, he kept the beard. He was a different man now and he needed that physical reminder when he looked in the mirror. He was no longer a history professor, he was a fighter who wore a side arm strapped to his leg and was rarely seen without an automatic weapon in his hand. Looking at Anne, relieved she was there, "Yeah, I guess everyone knows I know…"he said with a sheepish look on his face. "How is she?"

At that, all playfulness was gone from her face and she wore a very worried expression. She always had a calm confidence about her that made everyone she treated feel at ease, but she could be honest with Tom and show him her uncertainty. "I don't know, Tom. Karen appears to be well into second her trimester. I almost think the fetus has grown from my initial examination last night. Not to mention I just pumped a pregnant woman with powerful opiates for the last twelve hours. She was harnessed for a month with similar drugs pumping into her system and I have no idea why her body is reacting this way. I am in way over my head, sometimes I really do wish for those neurotic mothers and flu shots," as she spoke her voice became more rushed and frantic. She took a few deep breaths and wiped the corners of her watering eyes and tried to collect her thoughts. Her mind was racing with the possibilities and explanations.

She looked at Tom then. They had a grown up relationship, a friendship, but they both knew there was something deeper there and they were going to take their time. Everyone had baggage in this new era, but they still needed to grieve and adjust to the losses they had both had. He saw that she was scared and he took her hand in his and placed the other on her cheek. "We are going to figure this out. I know you feel like your lost, but the truth is all of us would be lost without you." He looked into her eyes, "I'd be lost without you." He let go of her hand and brought his palm up to cup her other cheek. He raised his lips and kissed her forehead while sneaking his hands into her hair. He eased back and looked into her worried face, "We are going to do this together, ok?" She silently nodded as he removed his hands and they both stepped back only a fraction of an inch.

"Tom, this may not end well, and I couldn't bare it if you…"

"I could never blame you," his voice had such conviction." Without you I wouldn't have my son back, and even if we had lost Ben, I wouldn't have blamed you, Annie." The endearment made her heart skip a beat. He was the only one who had ever called her that and it was something special and private between the two of them. One more way they shared a connection in the midst of the pandemonium they lived in on a daily basis. "So we need a gameplan, right?"

"Yeah, I think we are just going to have to monitor her for a day or so. See if she suffers any adverse effects of the drugs. She is still early in her pregnancy. We also have to consider the effect the harness has had on other kids, like Rick. Maybe it just speeds up her gestation period, maybe medically it's a good thing like it was for Rick and his cystic fibrosis."

"Yeah maybe," Tom said in that quiet way he had. He looked through the window into the clinic and watched his son sitting with Karen. They were silent. The gurney had been raised so it was in a sitting position and Hal had joined her on the bed with his arm around her careful to stay away from the wound on her back.

Clinic

"Hal?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too. What are you scared of?"

"That something bad is going to happen. I don't know, I just have this sinking feeling. Like I know how this is going to end."

"Karen, you can't talk like that. After what you have just been through it's expected that you are scared, but nothing is going to happen, Karen."

She looked at him for a long moment, taking in his face. "I love you, but I want you to promise me something, ok? You can chalk it up to hormones or a traumatic experience or whatever, but I need you to promise me this one thing."

"Anything," he looked at her square in the eye. If he had to promise her the moon he would do it.

"If in the end of this I don't make it you have to promise me to never blame our baby that I am not with you. Promise that you will take care of him and let him be a part of your family and let him know every day that I loved you both so much," she was getting tears in her eyes and so was he.

"Kar.."

"Wait let me finish. I can't explain why I feel the way I do. I am so happy to be home and with you, but I know this isn't our happy ending," she was openly crying now.

"Karen, we are going to have this family and I am not letting you get away from me." He is so much like Tom. Always believing in humanity and how things are going to eventually get better. They were going to get better, but if she was ever certain about anything, it was that something was wrong. Not wrong with her baby, but something was wrong with her. Like every minute she could feel herself getting weaker and the baby getting stronger.

"You still didn't promise."

Knowing it was the only way to calm her down and knowing it was the only thing that would bring her peace Hal looked at her solemnly, "I promise to never blame our child if something happened to you. And he will know every day how much you love him because you are going to be there to tell him. But if you are not there I will never let a day go by without him knowing, and he will know what you did to protect his life while you were gone. God, Karen, you must have been terrified," he bowed his head because he still felt the guilt from not getting to her in the first place. She leaned in and let her lips touch his. He gently kissed her, more careful now than ever. His face hovered close to hers while he whispered, "I am so sorry," a feather lite touch of his lips. "I'm so sorry," another kiss.

"I missed you," she said barely loud enough for him to hear her. "I missed this," she said with a smile on her lips as the kiss became more intense.

Cough, cough. The two sprang apart and looked at Tom and Anne. Tom looking embarrassed, "Sorry, I guess I really should learn to knock."

"Yes, you should," replied Hal in deadpanned tone.

Anne took that moment to grab her stethoscope and sit on a stool next to the patient. Hal rose from the bed in order give them more space and went to stand by Tom. Tom noticed Hal looking sad and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Karen, I'm going to be honest, we don't know exactly what we are dealing with," said Anne as she was listening to her pulse and taking her blood pressure. "I do know that physically you are much further along than two months and I can't explain it. My best guess is that it has something to do with the harness. We have seen some cases wear kids have been medically healed from them. Rick was cured of cystic fibrosis and one of the girls had scoliosis to the point she had to wear a back brace before she was taken. Now her back is as straight as a dancer's. You have also been under some pretty heavy drugs so that presents a risk also. We are going to keep a close watch on you and I'm going to ask you some questions ok?"

"Sure, I guess I'm your best source for why my body is acting the ways its acting. I've never been pregnant, but I knew I was getting too big and feeling too much too early. I thought I might be having twins, is that possible?"

"We only have some pretty limited equipment, but even doctors before ultrasounds could decipher between one or two fetal heartbeats. I only hear one so I don't think so. Any nausea?"

"Yes and whoever named it morning sickness was a man. It should be called anytime sickness."

A smile grazed Anne's lips. She hadn't spent a lot of time with Karen before, but she liked the girls spunk. "I was the exact same way with my son. What about nutrition? Did you eat regularly? If any of this becomes too painful you don't have to answer and we can stop, but the more information we have the more we can know what we are dealing with."

"I think they read the food pyramid on the side of cereal boxes and used that as a guideline for what to feed us. Every day we had a certain serving of fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and whatever else is on that stupid thing. I remember craving Twinkies and knowing there had to be some somewhere because they can survive a nuclear holocaust, and there were none to be found," she paused with a sly smile, "Twinkies were not a part of the food pyramid."

"Well, Twinkies or not, it's good you had good nutrition while you were gone. How is your energy level?" The questions kept coming and Karen answered them as best she could, from what she could remember.

After a bit Hal went to go and get them some lunch and Tom went too. "Anne?" Karen asked as the doctor was putting away her supplies.

"Yeah."

"I think something is wrong." Anne turned around abruptly and saw the girl was pail and breaking in to a cold sweat.

At her side in an instant Anne asked, "Karen, what is it? Is it the baby?"

"No, the baby is fine, it's me." Anne looked confused. " I tried telling Hal earlier, but I don't think he believes me. I'm getting weaker, Anne. Its like the baby is taking all of my life from me." Anne started to interrupt. "Look, I can't explain it, but I know how this is going to end. I think the harness was supposed to make me give birth quickly and only keep me alive until the baby was born. I know you're a doctor, but what is done is done and I am beyond your help, but you have to help my baby…my son."

Anne didn't know what to say. "Karen, you are going to be fine, you just need some rest."


End file.
